How different are the British in their willingness to move? Evidence from International Social Survey Data

Abstract

Our paper analyses people's willingness to move (WTM) using data from the 1995 British Social Attitudes Survey and International Social Survey Programme. We identify the personal characteristics and sub-regional indicators that are important in explaining the WTM within Britain. We also find that the WTM is only higher in a few other countries, including the United States. The equivalent desire to move is found to be much lower in Eastern European countries and in several other European Union member states. Compositional effects, such as age and education, are generally important in explaining differences in attitudes towards migration in comparison to other Western economies. However, structural effects such as institutions, history and culture tend to play a more dominant role in explaining differences compared to countries in Central and Eastern Europe.